Lined container



' Febkzo, 1934.

' H. ZENNER LINED CONTAINER Filed Sept. 2:, 1952 lun r" W 77 Patented Feb. 20, 1934 PATENT OFFICE LINED CONTAINER George H. Zenner, Buffalo, N.Y., assignor to The Linde Air Products Company, a corporation of OhioApplication beptember 23.1932 Serial No. 634,540

10, Claims.

This invention relates to lined containers for liquefied gases and moreparticularly to means for supporting the inner linings from the walls ofpressure containers.

The invention has for its object generally an improved construction andarrangement of parts for lined containers whereby the same may beeconomically and readily manufactured and a relatively high degree ofoperating efficiency attained.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide an improvedconstruction for supporting an inner lining or vessel within arelatively thick walled outer vessel or pressure container whereby bothmechanical strength and low heat conductivity is achieved.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the fea- 2l tures of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of acontainer constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of a support beforebeing shaped to its final form;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary edgewise view of the support shown inFig. 2 after being shaped;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged edgewise view of another 40 suppor Fig. 5 is afragmentary view partly in section of another form of container;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section through a portion of the liner shown inFig. 5; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional view of another modified support.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to Fig. 1, 10 is arelatively heavy walled container here shown as substantially sphericalin form and constructed by joining two hemispherical portions by meansof a welded joint 11. Disposed within the container 10 is a relativelythin walled metal vessel 12 for holding a liquefied gas. The vessel 12is also shown as substantially spherical in form, but of a smallerdiameter than the diameter of the inner wall of container 10 and issupported within the container by means shown generally at 13, 14 and15, for maintaining the wall of container 10 and vessel 12 separated bya desired interval 16. The principal purpose of the interval 16 is toprovide a means for substantially retarding the flow of .heat fromcontainer 10 into the liquid held in vessel 12. The supporting means 13,14 and 15 for vessel 12 are so arranged that as little heat as possiblemay be conducted by them from wall to walland comprise strips of thinmetal of relatively low heat conductivity bent flatwise and attached byone edge to the inner vessel 12, so that they project radially from itssurface.

The strips 13 and 14 have the form shown in Fig. 2 before they are bent.The outstanding edge is partly cut away or notched, as shown at 17. Thenotches serve to reduce the area of contact of the edges of strips 13and 15 with the 7s inner surface of container 10. The strips 13 and 14are preferably bent laterally in convolute form, as shown in theedgewise view in Fig. 3. The bends 18 are for the purpose of stiffeningthe strips so that when they are mounted with the so unnotched edge onthe surface of the inner vessel 12, they will remain upright under theinfluence of stresses to which they may be subjected. Since the innervessel 12 is preferably thin walled, it may be deformed by the weight ofthe liquid 35 contained within it. The liquid pressure is greatest onthe lowest portion of vessel 12 and decreases to a minimum at theuppermost portions. The supporting means are, therefore, spacedrelatively close together at the lowest portion and the distance betweensupports is gradually in-- creased as the upper rim 19 is approached. Tothis end supports 13 extend radially over the lower surface of vessel 12from points on a rela- Y tively small circle concentric with theverticle axis. Near the joint 11 it is advantageous to mount the strips14 circumferentially about the vessel 12 to avoid interference with thejoint 11. On the upper portion of vessel 12 where the supports 15 arerelatively, far apart, it is advanta- 0 geous to bend the support stripsinto shape illustrated by the end view Fig. 4. For introducing liquidinto the vessel 12, there is provided an inlet conduit 20 passingthrough the wall of container 10, and for withdrawing liquid a conduit21 con- 05 nected with the lower portion of vessel 12 passes through thewall of container 10. I

It will be seen that the supporting strips 13, 14 and 15 provideadequate support for vessel 12 at the points where such support isrequired,

while the contact area between the supports and the wall of container 10is relatively small, so that the conduction of heat from the container10 to the vessel through the supporting means 12 is substantiallyretarded.

A modified form of supporting means is illustrated in the view of Fig.where is a portion of the container within which is disposed therelatively thin walled vessel 22. The supporting means here compriseconical projections 23 of the wall of vessel 22 forming substantiallypoint contact with the inner surface of the wall of container 10. Theform of the projections is shown in the enlarged fragmentary view Fig. 6of a section through one of the projections 23. As

the projections are disposed the more closely together, the nearer theyare to the lower portion of vessel 22 where the liquid pressure ishigher, the surface between supports being greatest where the pressureis lowest and conversely.

In Fig. '7 is shown a sectional view of a modified form of supportingmeans. The material of the inner vessel 12 is not formed intoprojections,

but the conical projections 24 are formed in relarigidity.

' above atmospheric.

A container constructed in accordance with the present invention isparticularly suitable for holding liquefied gases when it is desired toincrease the-pressure of the gas material substantially The wall of thecontainer 10 may be made relatively thick to resist the desired internalpressures, while the wall of the inner vessel 12 is made relatively thinso that its specific heat capacity may be small. Thus when filling thecontainer with a liquefied gas, the wall of the inner vessel 12 will becooled rapidly to the temperature of the liquid with the vaporization ofrelatively little of the liquid and heat conduction from the container10 into the liquid will be substantially retarded. vaporization of theliquid during the filling operation and immediately thereafter issubstantially reduced to a desired low rate.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative .and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. In a lined container, the combination with a relatively thick-walledvessel, of a relatively thin-walled vessel disposed within thefirstnamed vessel and having a form similar to that of the first-namedvessel but adapted to clear the inner wall of the first-named vessel bya narrow interval, and means for compressively supporting the innervessel and maintaining said interval having a form making relativelygood thermal contactwith the wall of said inner vessel and relativelypoor thermal contact with the wall of the first-named vessel.

2. The combination with a relatively hea walled vessel, of a relativelythin vessel disposed within said heavy-walled vessel, and metallic meansfor supporting the inner vessel at a desired interval from the innerwall of said heavy-walled vessel comprising strips of thin metal havingrelatively low heat conductivity mounted edgewise on the surface of saidvessel and shaped to make relatively good thermal and mechanicalcontacts with the outer wall of said inner vessel and mechanicalcontacts of relatively small area with the inner wall of saidheavy-walled vessel.

3. The combination with a relatively heavy walled container, of arelatively thin vessel disposed within said container, and metallicmeans for supporting said vessel at a desired interval from the wall ofsaid container comprising strips of thin metal having relatively lowheat conductivity bent laterally and mounted edgewise on the surface ofsaid vessel and having the outstanding edge notched to reduce the areaof contact of the outstanding edge with the wall of said container.

4. The combination with a relatively heavy walled container, of arelatively thin vessel disposed within said container, and metallicmeans for supporting said vessel at a desired interval from the wall ofsaid container comprising strips of thin metal having relatively lowheat conduc tivity bent laterally and mounted edgewise on the surface ofsaid vessel and having the outstanding edge notched to reduce the areaof contact of the outstanding edge with the wall of said container, saidstrips being so arranged that they are spaced closer together where thehydraulic pressure of the liquid held in the vessel is greatest.

5. The combination with a relatively heavy walled container, of arelatively thin vessel disposed within said container, and metallicmeans for supporting said vessel at a desired interval from the wall ofsaid container comprising projections of the wall of said vessel makingsubstantially point contact with the wall of said container.

6. The combination with a relatively heavy walled container, of arelatively thin vessel disposed within said container, and metallicmeans for supporting said vessel at a desired interval from the wall ofsaid container comprising projections of the wall of said vessel makingsubstantially point contact with the wall of said container, saidprojections being spaced at closer intervals where the pressure of theliquid held in the vessel is greatest.

7. The combination with a relatively heavy walled container, of arelatively thin vessel disposed within said container, and metallicmeans for supporting said vessel at a desired interval from the wall ofsaid container comprising projections of thin metal mounted on thesurface of said vessel formed to have the desired operative rigidity anddisposed to makesubstantially point contact with the wall of saidcontainer, said projections being spaced at closer intervals where thepresssure of the liquid held in the vessel is greatest.

8. In a lined container, the combination with a relatively thick walledvessel, of a relatively thin walled vessel disposed within the firstnamed vessel having a form similar to that of the first named vessel butadapted to clear the inner wall of the first named vessel by a narrowinterval, and means in said interval for maintaining the same comprisingconvolute supporting strips disposed edgewise between said vessels andshaped to make good mechanical contact with the outer wall of saidthin-walled vessel and cut away to make contact at relatively few pointswith the inner wall of said thick-walled vessel.

9. In a lined container, the combination with a relatively thick walledvessel, of a relatively thin walled vessel disposed within the firstnamed vessel having a form similar to that of the first named vessel butadapted to clear the inner wall of the first named vessel by a narrowinterval, and means for maintaining said interval comprising convolutesupporting strips disposed edgewise between said vessels and of acharacter having relatively low heat conductivity; the disposition ofsaid strips in said clearance space becoming denser near the lowerportion of said vessels GEORGE H. ZENNER.

